1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat exchanger having a thermoelectric element which can transfer heat from one fluid to another fluid using the thermoelectric element.
2. Description of the Related Art
A cooling system of an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle typically uses a refrigerant cycle in which cold air is produced by circulating a refrigerant. Therefore, this system requires a number of components, such as an electric compressor, a capacitor, an evaporator and refrigerant lines, and spaces for these components, leading to an excessive a weight and costs.
When there is no cooling water or temperature is low according to characteristics of a vehicle, a heating apparatus requires a positive temperature coefficient (TPC) heater for heating. Therefore, in this situation, development of a system that does not use a refrigerant that is subjected to Freon gas regulation, has a reduced weight, is made up of simple components, and can realize both cooling and heating is required.
As an alternative, a system for transferring heat between flows of cooling water using a Peltier element is required that carries out indoor cooling/heating. This system concurrently carries out cooling/heating using the Peltier element, and feeds cooling water to an indoor heat exchanger core by heating or cooling the cooling water using a characteristic of a heat pump.
For example, a related heat exchanger may include a plurality of shell tubes, a header and a plurality of plate tubes. The shell tubes have the shape of a flat tube, have defined therein first accommodation spaces which receive first fluid, and are arranged such that they are spaced apart from each other in the up-down direction of the heat exchanger. The header includes a first header section and a second header section which are disposed on both ends of the shell tubes in the longitudinal direction of the shell tubes. The both ends of the shell tubes are coupled to the first header section and second header so as to communicate with each other. The header has an inlet through which the first fluid is supplied from the outside and an outlet through which the first fluid is discharged. The plate tubes are respectively positioned between the shell tubes such that the upper and lower surfaces of the plate tubes adjoin the lower and upper surfaces of the shell tubes. The plate tubes have defined therein second accommodation spaces which receive the second fluid, and have an inlet through which the second fluid is introduced and an outlet through which the second fluid is discharged. This heat exchanger is generally compact and occupies a small space, thereby enhancing the utilization of the space. This heat exchanger is also configured such that the shell tubes and the plate tubes having the same shape are stacked on one other, and thus can obtain an excellent heat transfer effect even from a small size. In addition, since it is possible to vary the number of the tubes which are stacked on one another, the heat exchanger can be easily modified depending on the design requirements.
However, this structure does not use a thermoelectric element, and thus must be changed when the thermoelectric element is applied thereto. Specifically, when the thermoelectric element is disposed in this heat exchanger, it is required to ensure that heat is efficiently transferred while effectively realizing a compact size. In addition, it is required to rapidly remove or add an opposing row in order to enhance the efficiency of the thermoelectric element. However, this heat exchanger does not sufficiently exhibit these characteristics.
The information disclosed in the Background of the Invention section is only for the enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention, and should not be taken as an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that this information forms a prior art that would already be known to a person skilled in the alt.